The Day Coyote Visited
by DakotaCelt
Summary: Coyote is a trickster who can teach us wisdom or the folly of our acts. It appears that Station 51 has been visited by Coyote...


**[Author's note: The following occurs after talking to a friend on an overnight shift and two pots of coffee.. Mischief and nonsensical fun! It is the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Coyote is a trickster in Native American and to some extent, Mexican culture. It is not unusual to see coyote and other critters in parts of Los Angeles county. The urban ones tend to be a bit smaller than ones in other areas.]**

**The Day Coyote Visited**

It had already been a long and hectic shift and all Johnny wanted to do was decompress and relax. Johnny sat quietly on the couch resting his eyes as he caught part of the conversation between Chet and Marco. Chet was plotting his latest collection of practical jokes for April Fools Day with Marco. At times, he really disliked the idea of being the butt of Chet's jokes. However, he tended to be in rare form on April 1st, which was only a few days away. Johnny was becoming increasingly annoyed at Chet and he decided that he needed some fresh air to clear his head. Getting up from the couch he headed towards the door.

"Hey Johnny," Chet called out as Johnny headed out to the door. "The phantom knows all."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...," Johnny replied tiredly as he stood near the door looking back at Chet.

Heading out to the apparatus bay, Johnny took a few minutes to collect his thoughts before going out to the backyard. Grabbing the basketball from the closet, he closed the door and headed into the backyard to shoot a few baskets. Letting out a heavy sigh, he thought to himself, that he needed to find a way to keep Chet at bay as his pranks were growing old.

Mike looked at Johnny sympathetically and rolled his eyes at Chet's plans. He was also growing weary of Chet's pranks and it annoyed him at times that his crew mate was often the target. Picking up on Johnny's annoyance, he followed him out of the day room and joined him outside.

"Hey Johnny," Mike called out as he walked into the yard watching his crew mate sink a basket. "Wanna shoot a few?"

"You're on Stoker," Johnny replied as the bounced the ball over to Mike.

"Penny for your thoughts, Johnny?" Mike asked as he dribbled the ball.

"Annoyed and tired of Chet's pranks," Johnny said distantly as he watched Mike sink the ball into the net.

"So am I," Mike stated. "His jokes get a little old, especially since they are the same ones over and over again.

"Isn't that the truth," Johnny replied sarcastically as he sent the ball sailing towards the basket. The ball bounced off the rim and Johnny sent it over to Mike.

Mike stopped for a moment in his tracks as he pondered his next move. "Hmmm... there has to be a way to turn the tables on him."

"Are ya gonna to shoot?" Johnny asked as he watched Mike go into deep thought.

"John, can I ask you a question about your background?" Mike asked seriously. "I was reading something and I was wondering if you could help me make sense of what I read.

Johnny was a little surprised by Mike's request to ask, as it seemed to be out of character for the reserved engineer. He was a little hesitant about granting Mike permission to ask a question about his background, but after considering it carefully for several moments, he granted permission. He was not overly comfortable discussing his background with most of the crew since that day, when Chet insulted the sacred symbolism surrounding the peace pipe.

"Go ahead Mike." Johnny said cautiously.

"I understand your hesitance, Johnny and it's nothing derogatory. I promise," Mike responded reassuringly.

"I was reading a book my cousin has on Native American creation stories and found them very interesting. In fact, I've done additional reading about them ever since. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Coyote as a trickster. Do you know how trickster plays a role in your culture?"

Johnny pondered the question carefully for a few moments, as he recalled stories his grandfather had told him as a young boy. "Mike, first off, you are the first person outside of Roy's family, to ask a nice question about my background, thanks." Johnny said as he leaned against the wall of the station with one leg bent and tucked up against the wall. "Coyote... he is a creature you want to be careful of because he teaches wisdom and folly at the same time. He can have a childlike innocence and one never knows what lesson you will learn in his presence."

Johnny paused briefly as he shifted his one leg down to the ground before continuing, "In the folly of others, we see our own foolishness, and hopefully we learn from their mistakes. Another way to look at Coyote is that you need a sense of humor as Murphy's law is evident when he is present."

"Hmmm, sort of sounds like someone we know," Mike said sneakily.

"Uh-huh, " Johnny said as his eyes glinted mischievously. "This time, the coyote must teach the phantom about the foolishness of his folly."

"I'm in," Mike crowed as he saw the twinkle of mischief in Johnny's eyes.

The two men shook hands as Roy came outside looking for Johnny. Roy walked up cautiously as he watched the interaction between the two men with curiosity and unease.

"Mike, Johnny, Good Morning," Roy said cautiously, as he tried to figure out what went down between his squad partner and Mike. "Johnny, we need to get supplies from Rampart before we have a run."

"Right behind you, Roy," Johnny replied. "Mike, we can talk later."

Mike gave him a knowing look and waved him off. "Later."

Roy looked at Johnny suspiciously as he climbed into the squad. He did not have a good feeling about what went down in the back as Johnny had a sneaky, satisfied look on his face.

"So Johnny did you have a conversation again with the Cheshire cat?" Roy smirked as he put the squad into drive and rolled out of the bay.

"Who me?" Johnny said innocently. "I'm not doing anything."

"That is what scares me," Roy replied. "You've got that look."

"Honestly, I'm not planning anything," Johnny stated emphatically. "I'm not going to do anything and with that being said, I can't control the actions of others."

Roy bit his tongue as he kept an initial thought to himself. Shaking his head, he pulled into a parking bay at Rampart and parked the squad. Taking a few minutes to collect his thoughts, he finally felt that he had Johnny cornered to get information. Johnny seemed quieter and more reflective and Roy saw this an opportunity to find out what he was up to. "If you are innocent Johnny, why were you and Mike shaking hands?"

"We were practicing handshakes, that's all we were doing after shooting some baskets and I won," Johnny replied innocently.

Roy shook his head and realized it was going to be one of those days. Recalling a book on jokesters, he remembered reading something about coyotes being a trickster. It finally dawned on him what had transpired in the back, or what he thought had happened. Granted, coyotes in this matter, he thought, were the smart ones as they tried to invoke wisdom. From his own understanding from the book, that Johnny gave his son, it stated that Coyote was the wisest when he observed and taught. In his thinking, he contemplated the merits of pulling a practical joke on another person and if it was wise.

"You're not going to teach Chet a lesson, are you?" He asked incredulously.

"Me?" Johnny retorted in surprise as he looked at Roy with a puzzled expression. "You're way off-base and have me mistaken for someone else."

"Johnny, sometimes you're too transparent for your own good." Roy stated, shaking his head.

"Why are you so suspicious?" Johnny asked with a hint of exasperation, as he tried to figure out why Roy was questioning his interaction with Mike. "I would think you'ld be more suspicious of Chet and me shaking hands."

"That would terrify me," Roy responded as he looked over at Johnny from the corner of his eye.

Johnny gave Roy a look of annoyance and slid out of the squad. "Let's get our supplies, okay. I really don't understand why you are so suspicious."

"Because, I can be," Roy snorted as he closed his squad door.

After they gathered their supplies from the Rampart, Johnny picked up the radio mic and radioed dispatch placing the squad back into service. It proved to be a busy day with one run after another for the squad. As the squad backed into the bay after a run, Johnny looked over at Roy.

"Roy, I really am not planning anything, honestly," Johnny stated with a hint of defeat in his voice. "I have resigned myself to Chet pulling pranks on April Fool's Day. I'm usually the target of his pranks, anyway."

Roy looked over at his partner and he wanted to believe him. Deep in the back of his mind, something kept nagging him that some sort of mischief was going down. He could not put his finger on it. Thinking to himself, Johnny did have a point that he was usually the target of Chet's practical jokes. Perhaps, as Roy thought to himself, maybe Johnny had not learned the lesson of the coyote as there was a certain innocence to his friend.

It was a quiet night with no runs and it was an unusual occurrence at the station. Johnny woke up early and sat in the day room in his bunker pants before changing into his street clothes to head home when next crew arrived. While sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, he sometimes enjoyed the quiet to think. Sipping quietly, he was startled to see Mike approach.

"Are we still on?" Mike asked in a hushed tone.

"Sure, I had completely forgot that we were meeting at the end of the shift. I was trying to keep Roy's suspicions at bay. He thinks I'm plotting to teach Chet a lesson," Johnny replied as he gave Mike a reassuring nod.

"Meet you at the diner," replied Mike as he started to leave the day room. "Going to check Big Red, while I wait for Crew B to arrive."

"See ya in a bit," replied Johnny as he held the coffee cup close to his lips while hie was lost in the exploration of an idea.

"Johnny, you're up early," Roy said sleepily as he entered the day room.

"Haven't been here long actually," Johnny replied. "I was just going to head to the showers and get some errands done the next couple of days before I'm on shift again."

Roy looked at him as he tried to place Johnny's mood. He was quiet... too quiet and he did not have a good feeling about it. "What's up Johnny?" Roy asked. "You've been quiet since yesterday."

"I'm fine, just have a lot on my mind," he replied distantly. Further comments to Roy were interrupted by Chet and Marco entering the day room.

"Johnny, the Phantom knows all," Chet stated with an air of superiority.

Johnny ran his hand through his thick, black hair as he got up from the table. "Really, Chet?" Johnny mused mischievously as he walked over to the sink to rinse his cup. "See ya in a couple of days."

Chet watched as Johnny left the day room and wondered what was up with him. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued speaking with Marco about his plans for his days off.

During the intervening days, Mike carefully planned his mischief with Johnny's suggestions and direction. Johnny offered suggestions as to what he needed to do to make the tricks look realistic and how the signs should read. Mike carefully stowed materials in his car and hauled a few things to his locker at the station in order to pull the deed off. He was surprised when Marco called him to ask if he wanted to do a practical joke on Chet as he also expressed being annoyed at Chet's ongoing pranks.

Before the morning klaxons sounded on April 1, Mike Stoker and John Gage laid their plan into action. Both men woke an hour before morning klaxons and carefully slipped outside to get their needed supplies for the day. Mike slipped into the locker room and placed furry poppers in Chet's locker with a sign on the inside of the door that read, _"Coyote is watching and knows all." _

Annie the mannequin was placed in Chet's car after she was dressed in a faux fur and tail. The tail was left hanging out the window to create the effect that there was an actual coyote stuck in his vehicle. _"Coyote is sleeping" _sign was placed on Annie_._

A sign was hung on the television in the day room celebrating _"National Coyote Day". _Another sign was placed on Chet's turnout coat_, "Coyote sees all things and teaches many," _with his helmet nearby and a faux coyote tail sticking out from underneath his turnout coat_. _

After innumerable signs were placed throughout the station, a message of Coyote's presence was clearly made. They returned to bed awaiting the sound of the morning klaxons. Both men stretched and yawned as some of their crew mates stumbled out of bed grumbling. Johnny secretly smiled when the announcement was made for animal control to rescue a trapped coyote from a backyard on Riverside Drive.

While Mike was still in the dorms, he let out a soft, yipping howl. Johnny was sitting in the locker room and he heard the coyote howl from Mike. Musing quietly to himself, he watched for reactions from his crew mates in the locker room. He could hear Chet asking Marco through the running water if he heard Henry howling. Mike soon joined Johnny in the locker room and smiled when he heard Marco questioning Chet in the running water.

As Chet and Marco came out, Roy and the Captain jumped in to clean up and start the day. John and Mike were quietly waiting for their turn to shower, when a blood curdling scream came from the direction of Chet's locker. They looked over with mild interest and watched as furry poppers were seen cascading and popping from his locker. It proved to be quite entertaining as the burly Irishman was bombarded with little furry poppers that blended with his wild looking wet hair.

Roy and the Captain looked out from their shower and over at Chet.

"Chet, I see your latest prank backfired on you," Cap grumbled as he started to dry himself. "Clean it up!"

"Who or what is Coyote?" Chet asked with a hint of mystified exasperation.

Chet glared at Johnny and Roy. "Chet, I have nothing to do with it... honestly," Johnny replied as he stepped into the shower.

As the Captain and Roy walked to their lockers, furry poppers continued to bounce when their feet bumped them. The captain looked at his men and shook his head as a slow smile spread across his face. They were almost worse than his own kids filled with mischief. There were times he felt like he had to be the parent figure to his unruly bunch of grown men.

Johnny and Mike passed them on the way to their shower and professed their innocence amid the flurry of furry poppers. "Innocent this time, Cap," Johnny professed innocently.

While Johnny and Mike were in the shower, two additional screams could be heard from water balloons and furry poppers flying out from lockers being opened. Listening through the running water, they could hear Cap and Roy grumbling at Chet about his latest practical joke. Johnny looked at Mike and commented, "I didn't do any other locker, except for Chet's."

"I claim complete responsibility for their lockers with a coyote picture signed by Chet," said Mike. "Just a heads up, we all got a furry poppers to make it less obvious of who the mischief makers were. Furry poppers are in more than one place in the station. Also, don't underestimate Marco's role."

"Marco?" Johnny whispered intensely as he was stunned by Mike's comment regarding Marco's role.

"Yeah, he helped with a few things before you got up," Mike whispered. "He called me and wanted help to pull a prank on Chet."

"Really Mike!... I'm shocked!" Johnny said in amazement as the water ran down his face and wet hair. "Well, all I can say about Roy is that I'm off the hook. I think it might be wise for us to be very solemn during roll call.

"Yeah, I agree," Mike stated as he grabbed a towel. "Like my mother always said, you have to watch out for the quiet ones."

"No kidding," Johnny said incredulously. "Murphy's law has struck and the day has only begun."

They quickly toweled off and dressed in order to face a grumpy captain for roll call. Mike and Johnny quickly made their way out to the bay and joined the rest of their crew mates. As they stood in line, they stared ahead to look professional and above the mischief. Chet looked over and glared at Johnny for his own jokes were backfiring on him one by one.

"Good morning gentlemen and Happy April Fool's Day!" Cap stated as he glared at Chet and doled out assignments for the day. "It could prove to be an interesting day."

Chet looked at captain and then focused his glare on Johnny and Roy. "I'll get you both, yet."

"I didn't have anything to do with it," Roy growled defensively as he recovered from an onslaught of furry poppers in his own locker. "Knock it off, Chet."

"I know and see nothing, Chet," Johnny replied innocently. Deep down, the idea of coyote was having an effect on Chet and he knew better than to even look at Mike or Marco.

"One more thing, who or what is Coyote?" Captain asked mystified, as he tried to figure out what was going on. This was one instance where he actually felt that his junior paramedic was innocent of any mischief that occurred. "Also, what is National Coyote Day?"

"Never knew they ever had a holiday," Johnny snickered in amusement.

The captain dismissed the men and returned to his office as there seemed to be some sense of safety there, or at least he thought. Suddenly the sound of furry poppers could be heard flying in the office.

"KELLY!" The Captain yelled, "You can clean up the furry things in my office also!"

Roy shook as head as heard the Cap yell amid the popping sounds coming from the office. It was going to be one of those days. Roy was not so certain about Johnny's innocence about the mischief that was occurring in the station. On the one hand, he noted that Johnny was acting very innocent about the activity and he also had furry poppers in his locker. However, part of him could not shake the feeling that Johnny was somehow behind the mischief. Before checks could be done on the squad, the tones went off...

_Station 51, Unknown rescue 13242 Angeles road, cross street Sepulveda, time out 803_

"Station 51, KMG-365"

The call sent men running to the vehicles and grabbing their gear as they climbed into their respective rigs. Grabbing his helmet and turnout, Chet cussed when he noticed a tail was soon sticking out of his helmet. Johnny looked from the corner of his eye at Mike in the cab of Big Red and he detected a small, imperceptible smile on his face.

Marco was trying hard to keep from laughing at the furry thing hanging from Chet's helmet. "Hey Amigo, it isn't that bad." Marco mused as Mike concentrated on the driving Big Red.

"Yeah, right... at least you don't have a coyote watching you," Chet grumbled.

"Maybe it's a message," Marco stated.

"What do you mean," Chet grumbled as he removed the furry tail from his helmet.

"It must be some sort of message that he is trying to say, because his message is throughout the station, Amigo," Marco replied wisely.

The Engine suddenly lurched to a stop and the men hopped off the truck and walked towards the parachutist stuck in a tree wearing a coyote costume.

"Get me out of here!" The person yelled from behind the coyote mask. "I missed my target and this costume is itchy!"

Mike stood back by the engine watching as the guys helped the trapped parachutist down from the tree. He caught a shadow in the corner of his eye. Shifting his gaze, he noticed a coyote was some distance away watching them. Wondering to himself, maybe Marco had a point with what he said to Chet in the cab. _"Maybe he is trying to teach us something along the line that we reap what we sow in our lives. Just maybe Chet had sowed too many jokes in the past and he was now reaping the fruits of his folly."_

The station proceeded onward through the day with several more unusual calls. April Fool's Day was proving to be exceptionally unusual. When the engine and the squad finally returned to the station, the men started on their assigned tasks in the station. Chet grumbled loudly from the latrine as he found more evidence of Coyote's visit. Johnny scrubbed the floor of the bay with a bemused expression as Roy watched him suspiciously from the door of the day room.

"Hey Johnny, we need to check the squad," Roy called out to Johnny breaking from his thoughts.

"Right on it," Johnny replied as he moved the mop and bucket away to a safe place. Joining Roy by the squad, they did a quick check of supplies and took out the biophone for a calibration check by sending test EKG strips to Rampart.

"Okay, Johnny, out with it," whispered Roy. "Who's Coyote?"

"I have no clue," replied Johnny, "honestly, I don't know. I'm just as puzzled as you are."

Suddenly, Marco commented that there was a coyote stuck in Chet's car.

"Chet, did you leave food in your car again?" Marco yelled as he watched the tail waving a little in the afternoon breeze.

"What do you mean Marco?" Chet asked as he came out of latrine. He looked over towards his car and saw the tail hanging out. "Damn!"

The guys carefully approached the car with Johnny and Roy holding their turnout jackets to fend off any possible bites from the trapped creature. Carefully approaching the vehicle, Johnny reached for the door handle to open the door and backed away quickly from the door. The captain offered to call animal control but Johnny waved him off. Chet went to the front of the vehicle and pounded on the hood to scare the creature.

"Hey, why does it have a sign on him?" asked Chet as he quit pounding.

Little did the guys realize that there really was a furry creature trapped in Chet's car. The guys were surprised when a small grayish-brown coyote was seen emerging from the car, yipping loudly. Startled by its appearance, the men backed off to give the coyote room to escape as they watched it run across the lot to the side of the building. The small coyote looked back at them, yipping his displeasure of being trapped in the car.

"How did he get in the car?" Chet asked, "And why isn't the other one leaving or moving?"

"Magic, perhaps?" offered Marco as he was just as mystified as how the little coyote got in the vehicle. "Don't know about the second one."

Chet took the turnout coat from Johnny's hands and gently reached in to get the other coyote out of his car. The color left Chet's cheeks when he turned around to lay down the little animal down on the ground, only to discover that the second coyote was actually Annie the mannequin. The appearance of Coyote Annie resulted in the men laughing at the sight of Chet holding the mannequin.

"Ummmm Chet, I think you girlfriend had other ideas for a boyfriend," stated Johnny as tears of laughter were rolling down his face. "Her real boyfriend ran off over there to the side of the building."

"Right Gage and you are behind all of this," Chet snorted as his pride was wounded, after having his day of pranks turned on him.

"I respect the Coyote for he is wise," Johnny stated innocently as he tried to get his laughing under control. "I have had nothing to do with anything that has happened today."

Mike looked over at Marco as the two men tried to get their laughter under control. They figured what Chet did not know about the day, would be wiser. It was only between them and Johnny as to who Coyote really was.

As each one got their laughter under control they drifted back to the station to finish their chores amid the flurry of occasional furry poppers flying around in various parts of the station. It proved to be an interesting day as they were visited by a trickster both human and animal.

As the day wore down, Mike stood in Cap's office and watched the traffic go by. Perhaps the wisest coyote of the day was a person that one least expected to participate in jokes. Mike pondered the idea, perhaps there were times that jokes were good, but other times they can be a folly, where a lesson needs to be learned in our daily lives.

Mike continued to ponder what Johnny said about the coyote as a trickster and deep down, he knew Marco was also right. Perhaps, it was true and Marco was truly the wise coyote of the crew and the rest of them fell for the folly of the coyote's game time and time again. Maybe it is also the reason that the coyote is often connected to tricks and pranks. A fitting representative on some levels for April Fools Day.

Mike grinned when he saw a wayward coyote run along the front of the station. Thinking to himself, maybe the Native Americans were right, never underestimate what animals are trying to say about our own behavior and the world around us.


End file.
